


Highschool Sucks

by brotherfuckers



Series: Striderclan [46]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Asshole parents, Attempted Sexual Assault, Bullying, Confrontations, Fighting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, OCs - Freeform, Pain, Sexual Assault, Slurs, Strife - Freeform, Triggers, assholes, good parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2013-10-07
Packaged: 2017-12-28 09:53:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/990644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brotherfuckers/pseuds/brotherfuckers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Back in highschool D got tangled with some bullies in the locker room in the worst situation until his brother comes in to help him out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Highschool Sucks

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Holy crap we can’t throw enough warnings onto this story. Bullies is a happy fairy tale compared to this one. (And actually we wrote this one mostly before Bullies.) The bullying in this one is serious. There is content on homophobic slurs, sexual assault, gratuitous violence, and idiot assholes bred from idiot asshole parents. This was hard for us to write so please be careful when reading it. If you have any sort of sexual assault, attempted rape, or bullying triggers, DO NOT READ. Seriously. We sorta scared ourselves that we could write this. Our OCs read like the scum of the earth that you will want to take a flame thrower to.  
> WARNING: Please take the Warnings seriously.

D knew trouble was looming as he heard the harsh slam of the lockers next to him, almost simultaneously on either side. Without looking behind him, he recognized the scrabbling noise of people getting out of there quickly. He also knew that there was a semi-circle of boys around him.

D knew trouble was going to strike as soon as he finally let himself go in gym class. He really couldn’t help it. They finally offered something that he was interested in, something he finally enjoyed, something he was good at. How was he to know that the record would be so easy to break? And that the teacher would make him fill out to paperwork to get his name up on a plaque saying just that? He was sure the teacher didn’t intend for him to enter the lockers as everyone else was heading home.

D knew with a gut clenching certainty that the glares sent by some his classmates and the pitiful glances by others meant that trouble had its cross hairs on his back. Despite the damp texture of his shirt clinging to said back and the light staleness of his own drying sweat, D didn’t particularly feel like changing his clothes anymore. Especially not with such an audience.

Slowly he turned around to assess the situation.

He knew their names. Even if most of them were a class above him. They were fairly infamous in the school. The center pair were known for terrorizing the majority of the school and they got away with it because their fathers were the highest donors to their esteemed private school. And with that abusing power they managed to convince several people to become their minions of sorts. It looked they also brought along four of their friends.

“What can I do for you, Alexander, Colin?” D asked smoothly. He tucked his thumbs into the waistband of his sweats and kept a relaxed slouch to his posture.

“You just think you are so special, don’t you?” Alexander sneered back at him.

“Do I?” D tilted his head in thought. “No, I am pretty sure you still hold the title of special snowflake.”

“You are such a retarded asshole. Such a dick. So much of a dick actually, your mom named you that, Dick,” Colin offered in brilliant rhetoric.

“She named me Richard after a king or three. I go by D. Because all the girls want the D.” He smirked back. He just shrugged his shoulders and tried to keep non-threatening because the big guy in the back didn’t look too happy at the way he was responding to the two ‘princes,’ though the only response that would make Gregorio happy would be if D immediately started begging for their forgivenesses for being himself. Which was not going to happen.

But D knew not to focus on him. He wasn’t in charge. He was just the wall of muscle that didn't really like to think for himself. He just liked to make other things hurt which was perfect for people like Alexander to make use of.

“Yeah right. You couldn’t get laid if you tried,” Colin tried to counter.

A quick response was at the tip of his tongue but pulling out a ‘your mom’ joke didn’t seem appropriate. He just shrugged again.

“You think beating Alexander’s record would get you attention, Dick?”

“Well, obviously it worked. Though I was hoping for the fairer sex. Or at least someone better looking.”

“You calling us ugly, fucker.”

“Did I say that?”

“The only sex you’ll get is pity sex,” one of Alexander’s side boys jokingly added.

“Hate to see what that leaves you then.” He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth because Terry lashed out with a fist that he just barely dodged. D watched him warily for a second swing but Terry didn’t follow up as Alexander grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to the semicircle.

D’s blood chilled when he heard Colin tell the littlest of the group, a shifty rat of a guy named Murray, to go watch the door and shout if he heard anyone outside. D knew his loyalty was bought and bribed because he managed to be useful between being a somewhat decent hacker to fix grades for Alexander and Colin as rewards for their other stooges and apparently being a lookout. They obviously didn’t want anyone to interrupt what was going to happen next.

“Hey, Dick,” D tensed at Alexander’s conversational tone. He didn’t flinch though even when the older boy stepped up close, “Why don’t you suck mine?”

D froze at the phrase. He had heard about Alexander’s and Colin’s bullying but had stayed off the radar. Until he broke Alexander’s record obviously. But that still didn’t prepare him for that.

“Yea, because only fags do theater so you’d actually probably like that,” the other stooge spoke up. D didn’t look at Cristian; instead he maintained his stare at a far off locker. He didn’t know how exactly to react to get these bastards off of him so he just didn’t.

“He probably sucks guys off all the time behind the stage,” it was apparently Terry’s turn to chime in.

“Takes it up the ass like a girl,” Colin offered. “He’s slim enough. Skinny fucker probably watches his waistline like a girl.”

“Takes dick and sucks cock. I bet he and his gay ass little brother make a great whoring team,” Alexander followed up.

D’s eyes flashed as he finally reacted with a deep growl. His hands were fisted in Alexander’s shirt even before he made the conscious decision to attack. He didn’t get the chance to land a punch before Gregorio had an iron grip around his pulled back wrist. It was as if he was waiting for provocation. Terry and Cristian stepped in as well to get Alexander away from the snarling Lalonde.

“You freak. Fucking red eyes!” he spat out as soon as he was a safe distance away. “Take a look at his eyes.” Between Gregorio and Terry holding him back, Colin felt safe enough to step forward and do just that. He couldn’t see much with the narrow glare that D was giving him.

“I had heard that the Lalondes were fucked up. Genetic defects. Probably from their mom being wasted while knocked up. Fucking losers.”

D managed to break free of Terry’s grasp and lashed out but only got a wide swing on Cristian’s face. He gasped in pain as Gregorio’s grip tightened enough that D felt his bones grinding together. Terry reclaimed his grip on D’s arm moving a bit more to his shoulder to let Cristian hold down his arm. As soon as he was immobilized, Alexander took a gut shot.

“That’s for wrinkling my shirt.”

“You know, Alexander,” Colin used that same flat tone that his partner had used before. “If you ignore the freak devil eyes, his face is kinda nice. I mean, he has good skin and a nice jawline.”

The heat that was in the punch doesn’t travel up to his voice as Alexander responds. “Nice lips too. And I’d bet he looks even better when he’s on his knees.” He nodded sharply at D’s captors. As soon as he felt pressure being applied to his shoulders, D reacted violently. He twisted each limb as sharp as he could and threw himself forward to get away from them. He kicked out to the side, connecting with Terry’s shin which freed his shoulder. He wrenched his body to the side to get away from Gregorio and managed to hit Cristian’s chin. But Gregorio put a quick stop to his escape with a massive meaty hand, grabbing his neck and applying pressure until his knees hit the ground with a sharp crack.

Gingerly Terry and Cristian moved back into position. Each one grabbed a shoulder and pinned an arm. They each also stepped on the back of his calves close to his knees, which took away his chance at mobility and made him gasp at the sharp pain.

“Oh yea. Much better,” Colin paused and glanced down at D with a mock-thoughtful expression, “but it’s still missing something.”

D glared angrily up at the two ringleaders. Then his head snapped to the side when Colin suddenly backhanded him. His lip split and he was a little dazed by the sudden strike.

“Perfect. Much easier too. I just wanna fuck his pretty little angel face.” Alexander stepped forward, roughly grabbed D by his hair, and forced him to keep his head still. D’s eyes went wide and his jaw clenched shut. “Gregorio, get out of the way, you meathead. I swear you take up too much space.”

“Make sure you don’t fuck him up too bad. I still want my turn when you’re done.” Colin nudged Alexander before he took a step back to watch the show.

D struggled some more to see if he had a chance when the brute was farther away but it seemed like Cristian’s and Terry’s method was fairly effective. He could do nothing but stare in horror as Alexander pushed his waistband down and reached out to pry D’s lips apart.

* * *

Bro pushed away from the car. D had never been more than a few minutes late meeting him outside. In fact, D usually beat him to the car. With a heavy sigh and a roll of his eyes, Bro headed back inside. Under his breath he grumbled to no one about the gymnasium being at the back of the freaking campus. Who even designed this place; idiots, that’s who. He gave a little half hearted wave to a passing teacher before he turned down the hallway for the locker rooms.

He was a little surprised to see the hallway lights off. He wondered if D took another route to the car and they just happened to pass each other. He glanced over his shoulder, trying to calculate the chances of him already being at the car. But he shrugged to himself and decided that he was already all the way over here and he could walk a couple steps more to make sure that D wasn’t just taking a long shower. Maybe one of the geeks threw up on him in gym class or something.

He hesitated when he saw the light under the boy’s locker room door and heard voices inside. Okay so maybe D wasn’t the only back here. But he should have given Bro some head’s up if he didn’t want his party crashed, Bro thought to himself with a small smirk on his face as he pushed open the door.

There was an instant feeling of dread as he first saw Murray standing somewhat near to the door. His back was turned as if he was really interested in something going on farther inside. Bro slipped in, making sure that the door closed silently behind him. He moved to a better vantage point to see what Murray was looking at so intensely.

His breath caught in his throat as he recognized D’s red sweatpants kneeling on the ground in front of someone. He saw D throw his torso in a bid to get free. He saw a hand on his shoulder holding him down. Then he saw Gregorio looming in the background. There was nothing good about a scene that had both Murray and Gregorio and instantly two more names jumped to the forefront of his mind. If D was involved with Alexander or Colin then something was definitely wrong.

The possibilities ran through his mind in a second and he focused on a single course of action almost immediately. Murray barely had time to look away from the mess in the middle of the room before Bro’s fist slammed into the idiot’s face. The gnarly rat hit the floor without a single word. The landing was loud though--a huge thump loud enough to make the others turn to see him.

Colin dodged behind the meat wall of Gregorio’s body. The silence in the room was broken by, “Move it, you idiot! Get him!” A quiet grunt accompanied the order, not from Colin or Gregorio, but from Alexander. The grunt quickly became a yelp and then, “Don’t you fucking bite me, Lalonde!”

D still had some kick in him. Bro didn’t think that it would be so relieving to hear that sentence, but it was enough to spur him to run straight at Gregorio. Bro’s first hit landed straight to his sternum. Gregorio stumbled for a second and Bro squared his shoulders as he lowered his center of gravity, but before he could land the next hit, a knee to the gut took him down.

He breathed from his nose. He pulled from his experience in fighting with his brother, gathered the pain in as much of a motivator as he could, and released all of it into an upward blow to the man’s solar plexus.

Gregorio still didn’t go down. If Bro remembered correctly, that should have been a one-way ticket to I’m-Not-Fighting-Anymore-ville. In Bro’s stunned state, he let a punch to the jugular land without a struggle. He blinked furiously, clearing stars from the black expanse of the inside of his eyelids, and gasped harshly.

From somewhere to the side Alexander’s cries became louder. Bro managed to see through the rest of the remaining stars long enough to see D lean his head over his shoulder and spit out bright garnet red blood onto the white of the floor. Blood dripped from his nose and from between his teeth, marring his lips and tracing three lines down his chin. Blood dripped from Alexander’s hand in a set of teeth patterns between his thumb and forefinger. Alexander’s other hand balled into a fist and began the swing when Gregorio’s fist landed across Bro’s temple.

The world spun and his stomach dropped into his toenails, but he took the momentum and spun on the balls of his feet. His fist buried into the back of Gregorio’s exposed shoulder.

Gregorio stumbled back and cradled his shoulder in his hand. Bro wavered on his feet for a moment, lost his eyesight for another, and came back in time to drop to his knees to avoid a punch. His fist dug into Gregorio’s stomach and beneath his ribcage. Gregorio crumpled around him before he rolled to the side and curled around his offended stomach.

D made a high-pitched noise. Bro’s head spun around fast enough to pop his neck. D was less concerned with the fingers that had found their way back into his mouth and more concerned with looking over Bro’s shoulder. Bro pivoted on his toes and somersaulted over his shoulders.

The bat narrowly missed his head.

Bro climbed to his feet slowly. His head spun and his stomach contracted disturbingly, but he stood and faced his new attacker. The bat was in mid-swing when Bro caught it. His palms stung and his jaw clenched. He jerked his shoulders away from the batter, pivoted on his right foot and shoved his left elbow into the batter’s jugular as hard as he could. Terry dropped his end of the weapon. Bro took a sloppy stance and slammed the bat into the man’s arm.

Alexander, hand bleeding again, tripped through the wreckage between Bro and the now broken-armed stooge. Bro shoved him even further back, knocking him into the lockers, as Bro attempted to get to his brother. D looked up wearily, still pinned with his arms behind his back. Breathless, with a swollen eye, a bloody nose and a split lip, D’s gaze swept around the room until he found Bro.

The fear in his eyes made Bro’s stomach curl even worse than the fight had.

Bro lunged to free him, but someone caught him from behind and twisted his arm around behind his back. With his fingers, Bro could tickle the nape of his own neck, and his shoulder screamed in agony. Bro spun with his captured shoulder, slamming the outside of his hand against the Colin’s throat.

D bit his lip and the split grew larger, more blood trickled into his mouth and down his chin as he braced himself for his next move. He wrenched his shoulders out of Cristian’s grip. He took a staggered step away as Bro was released out of his own hold. D followed up by punching Cristian unconscious with a single blow.

Bro knocked another attacker down, this time for good (where were they all coming from? were there this many before? his head was getting to him), and by the time he could look around again, D had Alexander, Bro had to squint to make sure, pinned to the wall. Colin was going after D’s back, but he went down with a simple trip.

Bro lifted him from his face-plant and pinned him to the wall. Venom leaked from Bro’s gums like the blood between D’s teeth, coating his every word, forming the syllables for him. “ _Touch him_ -” He slammed Colin against the wall for emphasis. “Touch him one more time, so much as _think_ of touching him again, and I swear to God I will break _every_ last _bone_ in your body and I’ll do it _again_ and _again_ and _again_ until your name becomes _fucking synonymous with ‘pain’ at every hospital in the tri-state area_.”

“He start- Dick st-”

The blood gushed from Colin’s broken nose from Bro’s hit almost as nicely as it framed D’s chin.

Bro had to extract D from Alexander carefully, but once one hand became freed of the collar, the other fell loose. D’s tongue licked at his lip idly and he geared up for another punch to Alexander’s face. Bro had the decency to watch D’s face as he landed a final punch before he tugged him away.

Slumped against the wall, Alexander screamed bloody murder. “My father will hear about this! He will hear about this, y’hear me Lalondes? Did you hear me?”

The slam of the locker room door echoed loudly in the empty hall. Bro was glad that the lights had already been turned off as he and his brother quickly made their way to the parking lot. They didn’t run into anyone and those that they did see were walking to their own destinations at the other end of the hall. They somehow managed to keep a calm, steady pace while on the tile floors but as soon as they hit the exterior doors they sprinted as fast as they could to the car. They didn’t even bother with seat belts as they burned rubber out of the lot to head home. D’s knuckles were a bloodless white as he gripped the wheel. His turns were sharp and he sped along the straight sections. Bro tried not to glance in his direction but even still he couldn’t help but notice the tension present in every line of D’s body. Nothing was said between the school and their home.

D carefully pulled into the driveway. Bro used the remote to open the garage door and D pulled in. He turned off the car but made no move to get out. The tension gave way to shaking and D’s shoulders shuddered in a suppressed sob. Bro leaned over and wrapped his arms around his brother in what he hoped was comfort. He breathed a sigh of relief as D gripped his arm and tucked into Bro’s smaller body.

Bro let D unwind and then recompose himself before he hesitantly asked, “What happened?”

It took D a couple more deep calming breaths before he could even start to answer. “I broke Alexander’s record in gym today.” His shoulders lifted in a huffed laugh. “That was it. That was the fucking catalyst to this whole mess. I was better than them. I showed that I was better than them. So they decided it was my turn to be targeted. They had me trapped and then I was stupid.” His fist gripped Bro’s shirt harder. “So fucking stupid. Why can’t I keep my goddamn mouth shut? Always have something to say. Always going to get myself into trouble. Fuck.”

“Shh,” Bro stroked his hair and squeezed him tight. “Not your fault. They are the assholes, not you. Not you. Not your fault.”

“I was doing okay. They were making fun of my name of course. And that I’m in theater class. I was okay with that. I don’t care about their opinion on that. Then I fucked up.”

“Tell me what happened and I’ll tell you if you fucked up.”

He bit his lip nervously, flinching as it pulled at his injury and caused a dribble of blood to roll down his chin. He brushed it away before continuing, “They insulted you. And I tried to punch him. They can’t insult you.”

“Shh, it’s alright.” Bro used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe off some of the excess blood on his face. “I love you too, D. But next time, don’t pull the white knight act.”

“They can’t say those things about you. It’s my job to protect you.”

“We got each other, D.”

“They said that and then I reacted and then they got me on my knees and then they-” his mouth tried to keep moving but his voice stopped in his throat. Another sob tried to escape instead.

“And then I got there. And then we got out of there. D, you’re okay. You are okay.” D slowly calmed down again and Bro was able to let him go. “Come on. We need to tell Mom what happened because Alexander will definitely tell his father and Mr. Sykes will raise hell on us for this.”

D nodded and together they got out of the car. They looked at each other just as they were about to enter the kitchen.

“We look like hell,” D commented.

“You should see the other guys,” Bro instantly returned. With soft smirks to bolster themselves, they entered the house.

* * *

She heard the garage open and close. She glanced over at the clock and noted the lateness. The boys didn’t always come directly home but they usually left her a note in the morning to tell her of such plans. She sipped at the half glass of red wine and saved her work to get ready to greet them. But she didn’t hear the usual banter in the kitchen. She frowned and watched the clock. Finally she heard the kitchen door open and she wondered what had taken them that long in the garage.

Falling back into the usual routine, she stood up from her desk, buttoned up her lab coat, and sauntered into the kitchen, the empty wine glass dangling from her fingertips.

“Hullo, boys. Come give your mum a ki-” The word stopped in her mouth as she took in their appearance. Their clothes were rumpled, Richard was still in his gym gear. There was swelling on their faces. A bit of blood smeared there too, drops littering Richard’s chest and staining Derrick’s sleeves. Their knuckles were red and looked stiff hanging from their sides. They stood there shoulder to shoulder ready to take on the world. She wondered if they already had.

She didn’t say anything else immediately. She carefully sat the wine glass on the counter. She watched their reactions obliquely in her view and decided yes, she needed a drink to handle whatever they were about to tell her. She poured another few fingers from the open bottle.

“So what happened to make you look like such ruffians?” She tried to keep her voice sweet but knew it fell flat when both boys winced a little.

“I broke a school record during gym today.” Richard started. “I didn’t mean to. It was just really easy. But a couple guys, seniors, apparently didn’t like that and they cornered me in the locker to tell me that and I might have said a couple stupid things back to them because they just tossed them up so easy and I can’t always watch my tongue, you know how it is. They even tried to throw a punch but it missed, really easy to dodge and they didn’t let him swing again and so it was going fine really until they insulted Bro and then they insulted you and I threw a punch and of course it landed and that’s where it goes downhill.”

She hid her tumultuous feelings behind several sips of the wine. She understood his reactionary feelings. She had them too even with the bare bones of his story. How dare others insult her boys. Her plum colored eyes darkened to match the color of the wine.

“They made him get on his knees to act as a punching bag,” Derrick jumped in, “and that’s when I showed up because he was late getting to the car so I went looking for him and found him in the lockers. There were six guys against him so I just sort of reacted and took a couple of them out.”

She had a couple ideas of who some of those six were based on the few interactions she had with the different families at the school’s social events. She was not deaf to the rumors and not blind to the happenings of the students her boys went to school with. She played up her ignorance to keep out of the limelight but she knew she had her own reputation with the other parents anyways.

“But that phrase ‘the bigger they are, the harder they fall’ has a couple different meanings so it wasn’t really a clean one sided fight but really was still six on two and they had a really big guy.”

She felt pride flare up inside her as she heard how the two of them stood for each other and she reevaluated how they looked and decided that it could have been much worse especially with the odds they had faced.

“When Bro showed up it really helped and we did what we had to in order to get out. Which probably includes a couple concussions and black eyes and maybe a broken bone or nose or two.”

She heard the relief in Richard’s voice at Derrick’s rescue but could also tell that he was realizing the implications as he was recounting the injuries they delivered. Probably magnified with who they were laid upon. Richard hid the panic in his voice almost well enough. She took another sip of wine to keep her own emotions in check.

“Okay that last hit probably wasn’t necessary but the fu- the idiot said stuff about D and I couldn’t help it. But then we got out of there and came here and told you.”

At this point she wouldn’t care about the curse, but she was proud that he could maintain his tongue even as he rushed to finish his story. After the deluge of words, the following silence was incredibly loud.

She tried to replay the scene in her head and come up with a mitigation plan. Her boys had been antagonized into the fight, and the others had thrown the first punch but without proof, the word of her boys against the other influential families would not be worth much. Her boys were in the right, but not many would see it from that perspective. She was momentarily glad that their father was out of town. With his temper, he would no doubt have made the situation worse.

As she refocused her attention on the two boys, no, young men in front of her, she noticed that Derrick was extremely fidgety. Apparently she let the silence hang on too long without response.

“Mom, I’m sorry. I just got so angry seeing D like that so I might have gone a little crazy and I took most of them out. D was just hurt and I wanted to hurt them back. And I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about it. I’m so stupid. That extra shot to Colin’s face probably wasn’t worth it. God, I’m sor-” He immediately stopped his nervous, panicked apologies as she raised her hand.

“I’m not angry.” She watched as some of the tension slid off their shoulders, but they were not entirely mollified. “Just give me some time to think about it.” She refilled her glass. “Get dinner started.” She lifted the glass up and spun on her heel. She left the room with controlled short steps. The motion helped get her emotions under control so she could look at the situation logically.

Trouble was coming.

* * *

“Um...”

“Don’t ask me. That wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. I don’t know what I was expecting but honestly it wasn’t that.”

“Well then, let’s get started on dinner I guess.” They moved farther into the kitchen and looked at the calendar. It was grilled chicken and steamed vegetable night. D grabbed the pack of meat from the fridge and began cutting it up. Bro went to the freezer and grabbed a bag of vegetable medley. He was about to close the door when he saw the bag of frozen peas. He grabbed that too and then went to the junk drawer to grab an ace bandage roll and a dish towel.

“Hold still.” He approached D from behind but as D’s hands were covered in raw chicken, he put up with Bro pressing the towel-wrapped bag of peas against his cheek and eye and waited for Bro to secure it with the bandage. He sighed heavily at the care but honestly the cold food felt like heaven against the swelling skin.

After that, the dinner making process went quickly and smoothly. They had much practice after the schedule that their mother had put together as soon as they were old enough to handle the stove. It gave her more time to work in the lab and then it was most helpful when their little sister was born.

Protein, vegetables, and a grain. It came together nicely and quickly. Bro split up the food onto four plates, three large white ones and a small lavender one, while D set out three cups of water, a sippy cup of milk, and a fresh glass of wine for their mother. Bro cut up the food on the lavender plate into small enough bites for their little sister. D just finished setting the silver when their mother walked in with little Rose on her hip as if on cue. D and Bro didn’t react to her timing because she forever had the knack to appear just when dinner was ready. When they were younger they used to theorize the she had cameras set up in the kitchen that she would watch in the lab. They were never able to prove, or disprove, that theory, but instead just came to accept that she materialized wherever and whenever she needed to because she was Mom.

Little Rose cheered happily at the sight of her big brothers and Bro took her from Mom’s arms. He placed a sloppy kiss on her forehead that had her screaming with laughter. She pointed and laughed at D’s makeshift eyepatch when he came over to say hello too. She shrieked playfully at the brush of cold when he leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead too. When Mom came back from setting her empty glass by the sink, the four of them sat around the table. Rose’s booster seat put her close to the table. She was the only one who dug into her food with any enthusiasm. Bro tried but couldn’t take more than a couple bites. D mostly pushed the food around his plate and only took a bite when Mom sent him a pointed look. She ate more of the dinner than Bro did but with much more aplomb than Rose, carefully cutting each forkful to a small mouthful.

The whole affair was quiet except for Rose’s babbling. Every once in a while she directed a string of nonsense at one one her brother’s and they would smile and nod in return. But by the end of dinner, marked by Mom’s empty plate, even Rose had picked up on the somber mood. Bro automatically got up and cleared the table. D put the leftovers into plastic containers. They both froze mid action when the home phone rang. Mom finally rose from her seat at the second shrill and lifted the receiver in the middle of the third.

“Lalonde residence... Evening to you to, Principal Raymond, though I wouldn’t necessarily call it good. I am glad you called. I was going reach out to you right after we finished dinner... No you didn’t interrupt us. The boys were just clearing the table... Of course I am aware of the incident; that’s why I cannot say it is a good evening... I am very aware this is a serious situation. My boys told me as soon as they were home... That is not what I was told... I am absolutely sure that is not what happened... I myself would like to have this resolved as soon as possible and with as little fanfare as possible... That is perfect. I was just about to suggest that myself. Will eight o’clock work with everyone? I have to arrange for someone to take care of little Rosie since my husband is out of town... Oh I understand your relief, Carmine... We will be there.” She hung up the phone.

Neither Bro nor D had moved from their positions through the entirety of the one sided conversation.

“Finish in here while I call the neighbors to see who can take Rose tonight and then meet me in the parlor.” She scooped Rose up out of her seat and left the kitchen. They didn’t speak as they finished their chores.

* * *

“Dee and Bo in twoble?” Rose asked from her hip.

She shakes her head, “No, sweetie. They are not in trouble. In fact, they did really good today. They were brave and strong like brothers should be.”

“Then why unhappy?”

She was always impressed at her daughter’s intelligence. She had begun to speak in coherent sentences much earlier than either Richard or Derrick. But her attention to the emotional well being of those around her was elevated even compared to other precocious children she had encountered.

“Because they are scared. They fought and won against some bad people which is a good thing but the bad people do not see it that way.”

“You help Dee and Bo. You a good mommy.” She squeezed her little girl close.

“Of course I am going to help them. Now let us see if Ms. Maryam is available.

* * *

After the phone call, she sent Rose up to her room to gather what toys she wanted to bring with her tonight. Then she sat primly on the sofa in the parlor and waited for the boys to arrive. She sipped on her glass of wine as she put together how she wanted to present her family in the upcoming meeting.

Richard and Derrick came in together, still relying on each other for support and comfort. In the following silence, she took a good look at them.

Richard had the strong jaw line of his father along with his height but the thinness of his frame and lightness of his hair was entirely hers. He had removed the makeshift ice pack and the darkened swelling around his eye and on his cheek looked improved for it. The fact that a blow had marred his face like that burned her. He carried a maturity about him that she hadn’t quite noticed before. It made her heart twinge to know that he had grown up to become this gentleman. Where had her wide eyed boy who asked so many questions gone?

Derrick still had that youth showing in his face. He was in the throes of puberty but she could already see he was leaning towards how his father was built but he had the strange and sharp eyes that were common in her family. He still carried that soft edge of baby fat on his face that smoothed the lines that would too soon develop into sharp definition. He wore the brashness of his age with the confidence and pride of one who hadn’t fallen yet. And the incident that afternoon only bolstered that sense of invulnerability for him.

That was the difference. Something else had happened to Richard that even Derrick didn’t know. Richard knew he wasn’t invincible. What else happened to her son?

“Principal Raymond was contacted by the other parents. He has convinced them to meet before calling the police about this. They claim that you assaulted them.” Both Richard’s and Derrick’s faces darkened in anger. “Obviously the other boys did not tell their parents the version you told me. But you tell me right now: did you tell me the entire truth?”

Richard broke eye contact first. He ashamedly looked down towards the floor, his jaw was tight in an effort not to cry. She got to her feet and came to stand in front of him. She lifted his face towards her with soft hands on his jaw. She saw the tears welling in his crimson eyes as glanced at her before trying to stare elsewhere.

“I need to know exactly where we stand before I walk into this meeting, young man.” Her voice was firm even though her heart was breaking. But if they had provoked them directly or thrown the first punch then she needed to know.

“I-” the words caught in his throat.

“I need to know everything. I need the details. I love you, Richard, no matter what happened.”

A tear rolled down his cheek as he choked back a sob. His foot started to tap in an effort to release some of the tension building up inside.

“Start at the beginning. You broke the record in gym.”

He released his breath and drew another deep one. “They thought I broke the record for attention. Then they made fun of my name, you know, Dick is short for Richard. They said something about me getting pity, uh, sex and I replied ‘hate to see what that leaves you’ and that’s when Terry tried to hit me. And then they went back to my name and then they started saying things like I should-” he broke off again, swallowing hard.

“D,” she shifted into his line of sight, “tell me everything. Tell me what they said.”

“They said I should suck their dicks. That since I am in theater I’m apparently a fag. That I’m like a girl because I’m skinny.” He noticed the way her eyes narrow in anger. “But I didn’t care. I don’t care about that.” He shook his head, breaking free of her hands. “But I did care when they mentioned Bro, that he was doing that shit also, calling him a whore, so I tried to hit them but Gregorio caught me. Then they started making fun of my eyes and said- and said that that you were wasted while pregnant and so I hit them. Well I hit Cristian.”

“Oh sweetie-”

“And that’s when they really grabbed me,” he continued over her, knowing if he stopped he wouldn’t get it out. “And Alexander punched me. He hits like a kid, like Rose except she’ll hit harder when she grows up.” He shook his head again, looking out into the room. “But then they started talking about how I was pretty and I how I’d look better on my knees. They hit me and I got the busted lip then. And then,” He took a deep breath and stared at the floor to avoid looking at the other two. “And then they said they were going- they were going to- shit-” Richard clenched his eyes shut in a futile attempt to try to stop the tears streaming down his face. “Going to fuck my face and he pulled down his waistband and pulled- pulled it out and tried to get my mouth open-”

She glanced over at Derrick and knew that his expression of disbelief matched hers. Richard hadn’t told him either. The shock faded as rage soon enveloped them. Gold eyes met purple and if given a chance, both of them would have murdered. The pure fury she felt at the idea of her son being raped in such a manner overshadowed her previous anger about the insults and the beating. Not to say they did not matter but the severity at which she would wield her wrath increased with the list of atrocities committed against her sons.

“-and then Bro came in and saved the day. I ended up biting fingers and that’s when they give me the shiner but Bro started knocking them down and then finally I got loose and I think when we left, four of them were unconscious or at least not getting up and Colin and Alexander were really hurt. I don’t remember much of the fight, I’m sorry,” he finished with a sob.

Her arms snapped forward and pulled him into a hug. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing. Do you hear me? Absolutely nothing. I’m going to kill them so they can’t touch you again. You are going to be okay. I promise. You are so strong, you are so good. I’m so sorry that happened to you. I’m going to send them to hell, going to make their lives hell. You don’t deserve that. No one deserves that. They’ll pay for this, one way or another. I love you. I love you so much, sweetheart.”

She could feel Richard’s broken raspy breath pass through his tears as she held on tight. She felt Derrick shift and then shifted herself to pull him into the embrace as well. With her head between Richard’s chest and Derrick’s shoulder she held onto her boys. Derrick’s arms came up, one around each of them in awkward comfort as he struggled with his his own emotions.

“I didn’t beat them up enough. I’ll kill them on sight.”

“No you won’t. I’ll get to them first,” she chided softly as she got her breathing under control. “Alright. Everyone takes a deep breath.” She stepped back to break the hug. She reached up and pulled D’s head down to kiss his forehead. “We will get through tonight. And then I will ruin them.” She released him after one more kiss. “Derrick, go take Rose over to Ms. Maryam. Richard, go change into something nicer. Meet me in the kitchen when you are ready.”

Both young men nodded at her and went upstairs to complete their respective tasks. She went to the kitchen and looked through the pantry for a large bar of chocolate. She offered each of them a row when they entered. Then with their composure in place, they got into the car and headed to the school.

* * *

The lights were on in the cafeteria, making it obvious where to go. She watched the time carefully as they sat in the near empty lot. There were ten cars there. The other families and the principal were already inside. She got out of the car with her boys following her with just enough time that it was exactly eight o’clock. The conversation in the room was silenced as the doors swung shut behind the Lalondes. The six opposing students were almost lined up on the far side of the room with their parents hovering over their shoulders.

It was a stark contrast to how she presented herself with her own flanking her. She would take the brunt of the arguments; she would do anything to protect her sons.

The administration stood in the middle of the room, obviously prepared to be the moderators. She nodded politely to Principal Carmine Raymond and the school secretary. She smiled lightly to the familiar security guard. He was big and strong and would not be afraid of restraining anyone if the discussion turned violent. He frowned in return.

“Convince me not to press charges,” her voice rung through the empty room, strong and demanding.

It certainly broke the stalemated silence as the far side of the room erupted. Through the cacophony of the voice she caught insults and slurs, promises and threats, a list of injuries, and shrieks of outrage directed at her family. She silently watched the parents foam at the mouth or shrink back against their more passionate spouses. The boys seemed conflicted in responses too. Some seemed proud and arrogant still. Others fearful and guilty. And then there was the early bloomer of a thug, almost bored with the proceedings. She assumed that he just didn’t have the capacity to take in the magnitude of what was going on without being told directly. With small words.

She also noticed that their injuries look exaggerated from what Richard and Derrick had told her. They might have been a little rougher than necessary to simply escape but not to the degree that the boys were presenting themselves. Or their parents were presenting their boys. But it played towards her hand very well anyways.

She tilted her head back towards Richard, “Which one was it?”

“Alexander Sykes, maroon shirt,” he murmured back.

She nodded and stared down the insolent deviant that tried to touch her son until that arrogant smirk on his face finally slipped off even as his father and mother argued against her initial statement. Wilford and Elinor, her memories supplied.

Carmine raised his hands and begged for silence. He eventually got it and turned to the Lalondes. “I need to hear the other side of the story. I have already heard their version, but I would like to hear yours.”

“No. I would like to know their testimony first. Then we will share ours.”

“But-

“No. I need to know what defaming lies I will have to defend my sons against.”

“That’s bullshit,” the large man behind the other smirking brat spoke up. She recognized him as Brent Hoffman. “We haven’t lied about shit. Those boys of yours started the fight. My boy and his friends were confronting Richard about his cheating in gym when apparently he turned violent against them. As Colin and Alex were defending themselves, the other, Derrick if I remember correctly, started attacking too. That’s when the others jumped in to help. Even Buddy’s kid, what was his name again... Murray.” He looked proud at himself for remembering. “Those two hooligans wouldn’t let up and severely injured all of them. Look at them! We almost didn’t recognize them when they got home. Then look at those two. A black eye and bloody lip between them. They didn’t stop fighting even when it was obvious they had won!” he announced triumphantly. He said it with such gusto that she was sure he had truly fallen for his own lies.

Carmine turns back to her, “You can see why I called you here. Fighting is not tolerated on school property. I’m sure you understand that.”

“Absolutely. But I also believe that bullying and rape is not tolerated on school property.” The words were barely out of her mouth before the uproar starts again. It took Carmine longer to get order again even with his raised hands and voice. The security guard’s bellowing helped.

“Those definitely aren’t and those are some serious accusations, Mrs. Lalonde!” Carmine began once there was tolerable levels of sound.

“They are and I do not make them lightly. I would like my son to speak for himself on the matters that happened. I swear he is telling the truth and will tell nothing but the truth.” She stepped back and gestured to Richard to step forward in her place.

D was nervous, but he could face down the angry crowd across the room with his family at his back. He already assumed that his words would not be accepted immediately if at all. He would just have to put it in simple terms with no exaggeration. He already said his story once. He could say it again.

“When I returned to the locker rooms after gym I was approached by this group. Alexander, Colin, Murray, Cristian, Terry, and Gregorio. They were upset that I had beaten the previous record set in today’s activity. We started discussing it which turned into a discussion about my name which led to some banter that upset Terry enough to incite him to throw a punch. I dodged and did not retaliate.

“The discussion however continued and turned to harassment over my choice of extracurriculars, precisely my involvement with theater. They offered up derogatory guesses of activities that I might be involved with in that area, but I did not correct them. They began to apply these activities to my brother as well, which incited me to throw a punch. Gregorio caught the punch and Terry's and Cristian's help, restrained me against any further similar actions.

“Alexander and Colin then began to insult my genetics and my mother which incited me to attack again despite my restraints. This blow landed on Cristian's face. I apologize for it not hitting the correct target. They restrained me again and Alexander retaliated for his companion with a hit to my abdomen.

“I would have left at that point, forfeiting the encounter but restrained by them, I was unable to retreat. They further restricted my movements by positioning me on my knees. I fought to escape but was overwhelmed. They continued to hit me, this time in the face which is where my lip injury is from.

“Up until this point, their behavior could be classified as aggressive, as bullying, as on par with many of the same activities that they perform onto others indicating repetitive bullying behavior to be expected and assumed from the present group based on historical data. Please also note that my brother still is not present. It is still six persons against me. It is also at this point that Alexander introduced the sexual element, declaring that he," D took a breath to steady himself, "wanted to fuck my pretty little angel face-"

"Liar!" Alexander shouted.

D continued on over Bro’s comment of “Convince me not to cut off his dick,” muttered under his breath.

"-and then he tried to force my jaw open to perform oral sex on him because I was not consenting and unwilling and actively fighting against it. He attempted rape." D paused to let that statement settle in.

"He was only prevented by my brother coming into the locker room to presumably find me as I was late. With the disruption of him knocking Murray out, who was on watch at the entrance of the locker room, I was able to fight back and out of the position I was in. We continued to fight with the intent to escape. As it was two against six, we used our judgement and deemed it necessary to inflict just enough damage to prevent them from following us. We did most likely break Colin’s nose as they continued to insult and threaten us.

“We left promptly after that and returned home where we told Mom what had occurred as we treated my black eye with a cold compress. We were invited here and I believe you know the rest.”

Silence hung heavy in the room. The boys knew that D had told the truth. Some of the parents were realizing it as well. The administrators also understood the delicacy of the situation.

Wilford shattered the pregnant pause with his shouts of “You can’t prove anything! We’d bury you in court!”

“Exaggerated and possibly self inflicted injuries? With false testimony claiming that my two sons took on a group six notorious bullies, one built like a brick wall? Forgive me from assuming but I think judge and jury would laugh you out of court. I am well aware that there are no cameras and therefore no recordings of the events in the locker room. But I am sure that the school grounds must have some security footage displaying the condition of all parties involved after the fight that will corroborate with Richard’s account.

“An account that he told with complete honesty. I am damn proud of my sons for putting up with this bullshit. There has been a persistent bullying problem within this school which I have been aware of but unable to do anything about since the source of this behavior can also be found in this room. If I had attempted anything, then it would have affected my sons’ education here at this facility so I have remained mute to the problem, along with the administration. But when my sons are targeted, we will not be silent.

“I am proud of them for speaking up. For speaking the truth. I am proud of them for showing great restraint. I am proud of them, a junior and a freshman, for being strong enough to take on six others, five seniors, in the face of bullying. For standing their ground when it was necessary and running when they could. I am proud of Derrick for coming to his brother’s aid. I am proud of Richard for being brave and not being shamed into silence about the attempted rape. I am proud of my sons!” she finished strongly with tears in her eyes and head held high.

The room was once again thrown into silence. Carmine’s shoulders slumped down because it was obvious that the Lalondes were telling the truth. But as she indicated, his hands were tied as the rest of the parents standing behind him were influential and powerful. He knew he would be in trouble, the school would be in grave trouble if he sided with the truth.

She saw this and understood his position. The school would not help her or her sons.

“Convince me not to press assault and attempted rape charges against your sons,” she declared again.

“It wasn’t rape,” came a murmured reply.

Her eyes immediately snapped to the willowy woman hiding in her husband’s and son’s shadow, Ralph and Terry. “Irma Larson! What did you just say?” Irma flinches down. “Please repeat it for everyone. I must not have heard you clearly. I thought you said ‘it wasn’t rape.’”

“It was just a blow- just oral sex, not rape.”

“I am sorry but the definition of rape is a sexual act committed against someone without consent. Oral sex, or a blow job as you were about to call it, is by definition and title a sexual act,” there was cold fury in her tone of voice that made Irma shiver under its pressure.

“You don’t have to be so crude, Lalonde,” another mother spoke out. Esther Salazar, Cristian’s mother, obviously dominate over her sickly pale husband, Cleveland.

“I am afraid I do to get my point across, Esther.”

“Of course you have to be. It’s not like your pansy boys have a male figure in their lives,” Scotty Matthews, Gregorio’s father, finally added to the conversation, pointing out the absent husband.

“These ‘pansy boys’ who took on your son along with five others,” she watched as he immediately regretted his words, “apparently do not need a male figure in their life as I have raised them properly even with my husband’s inconsistent presence.”

“He’s probably not home because you couldn’t satisfy him properly, you frigid bitch.” Stella York. Buddy York’s wife and Murray York’s mother.

“I do not think we can stay with this school any longer,” came the instant reply, voice steady through the violent rage.

“I would not feel comfortable walking in these halls,” Richard echoed.

“We can get our education elsewhere, where morals are valued higher than money,” Bro agreed.

“I will pull my sons out of this school and we will find education elsewhere.”

“Good! Now your sons won’t be able to corrupt our children anymore,” Tammi Matthews shrieked.

“That’s enough!” Carmine cut in with a bellow. “The Lalondes have made their decision. This meeting is over. No one is going to press charges as nothing can be proven,” he hated the words coming out of his mouth, but it was the only neutral ground he could find that might keep him safe, “And not a single word of this gets out. We are not going to let this incident ruin the school that everyone has put so much into. Meeting is over. Get out and go home.” He was shaking as he avoided eye contact with either side. The secretary hid her face shamefully as well. The security guard nodded to the Lalondes, understanding their decision.

The other family began to slink off, unsatisfied with the outcome but unable to complain with the turn of events. The guard had to step up as Brent Hoffman, Colin’s father started toward the middle of the room aggressively.

“How dare you.”

“I will do what is right by my children.”

“The fucking twink was probably begging for it,” the insult echoed through the cafeteria, making everyone pause. “Why does he think he can accuse my son like that? Who does he think he is? Do you know who I am? Do you know who my son will be?”

“You are not worth it, Brent Hoffman. Your wife’s son, Colin, is the scum of the earth and he learned that behavior from you,” she returned calmly.

“What do you mean my wife’s son?” he snapped. The guard put his hand out to warn against any further action.

“Why do you think Alexander and Colin act like such good brothers?” Mindy gasped behind him. “But Wilford’s genetics are just as bad as yours, I suppose. There is no difference between nature and nurture in this example.”

“You bitch!” Brent screamed and rushed her but was caught before he got more than a step. She noticed that the Sykes were quickly leaving before the scene was over, Elinor and Alexander being dragged away by Wilford.

“Let us go home now.” She turned on her heel with Richard and Derrick a step behind her, Brent still screaming at her back and the rest either leaving or standing in shock.

* * *

The ride home was quiet. She offered more chocolate and some pain pills to her sons.

“I know that wasn’t the outcome that we were looking for tonight, but rest assured, I will ruin each of those families. The two of you and your sister are so precious to me. I am so proud of you tonight. They will pay for everything. I am so proud of you,” she broke down with tears. Her boys immediately hugged her, tears also in their eyes. “So proud of you. I love you.”

“We love you too, Mom.”

* * *

_The parting shot Lalonde delivered broke down two marriages by very painful, public, and expensive divorces. The Sykes and Hoffmans’ sons were able to graduate before the fall out._

_Alexander did not get very far before being arrested for attempted rape of a fellow student at a local community college._

_Colin like Alexander could not get into any respectable colleges, no matter how much the family might have contributed and regardless of legacy status._

_The Yorks soon went bankrupt from the IRS finding out about a computer scheme set up in their company. They had to pull their son out before he graduated._

_The Salazars had a visit from CPS and their younger children were put into foster care as their mother was found to be abusive. Cristian was arrested shortly after starting college for drug possession and dealing._

_Ralph Larson was arrested for spousal abuse and Irma was put into witness protection to get away from the toxic environment. Terry was also arrested for battery against his girlfriend._

_Scotty Mathews was fired and blackballed from his industry after an anonymous tip revealed several folders worth of lewd pictures of female coworkers. His son was never able to find a football scholarship and therefore did not attend college._

_Within a year, the families were a disgrace._

**Author's Note:**

> For more information please check out our work at striderclan.tumblr.com; we have more stories, head canons, art/pictures.


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